Technological Influences on Monitoring and Automation of the Hydroponics System

Scarcity of fertile land, irrigable water and pure air are concerns that challenge the food chain. This is further degraded by the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and chemical compounds which yield appreciable short-term benefits but causes degradation in the long run. Soil less farming using alternate mediums under isolated conditions and controlled by technological advances has provided an altogether different dimension towards the solution to this problem. This is further supported by various technological advances in the domains of sensors, interfacing, microcontrollers, data storage devices, smart apps, IoT interfaces, WSN connections and web-based access. Vital parameters - pH, EC, Nutrition, Water, CO2, Light, Temperature, Humidity, external atmospheric parameters and the crop growth are monitored-either in an open loop manner or in a closed loop setup to ensure maximum yield with minimum resources. With water as the nutrient carrier, this becomes a typical Smart Hydroponics system. The most fundamental feature associated with Hydroponics is the utility of the vertical space in a highly effective manner. This provides an opportunity to grow diverse crops even if the climatic condition is not the correct match for the crop. And Automation is the lead front that facilitates such kind of advancement by detecting anomalous responses and rectifying the same for better yields.